Start with a question that does not sound like a travel question: what time are you getting on National Freeway 5 today?
The last stop is not picked by preference. It is decided by your departure time, and working backwards is faster.
Leaving before 18:00: close in Jiaoxi
This is the answer for anyone on the clock.
Jiaoxi sits nearest the northbound run, and it can give you a proper ending without costing anything — thirty minutes in the free foot soak at Tangweigou Hot Spring Park settles a whole day of walking. Eat along Deyang and Jiaoxi roads; one round fits the window exactly.
A quick massage before leaving works too. Density around Deyang Rd is the highest in the county, though note that some shops take cash only — 千歲月足體養生工坊 礁溪德陽店-cash only puts it right in the name.
Able to stay past 21:00: close in Luodong, and come out ahead
This one deserves an extra line, because it solves two problems at once.
Northbound traffic is heaviest from Sunday afternoon into the evening — check live conditions on the day. Rather than losing two hours in a queue of cars, put those two hours into Luodong. The market rings Zhongshan Park with stalls open to midnight; skip any queue you do not want, and an outer-ring stir-fry house on Xingdong Rd gives you a full meal for about NT$400 a head. The local’s approach covers how to stagger it.
Then a massage before the drive. That short stretch of Tianjin Rd is effectively a massage street, and 呂師父養生館 on Gongyuan Rd carries over 3,200 reviews close to Zhongshan Park. Loosening your back before a long tunnel section is not a luxury.
The Luodong interchange is nearby, so nothing doubles back.
Bus and rail: do not reverse the order
Check the last departure, then build the evening. Never the other way round.
Luodong Bus Terminal is served by Capital Star and Kamalan coaches; Jiaoxi Bus Terminal reaches Taipei through the Hsuehshan Tunnel in about 60-80 minutes, the fastest option. TRA Luodong and Yilan stations handle southbound and cross-county connections.
The good news is that both terminals and both stations sit inside the night-market and hot-spring-street walking circles. So pick the district next to your departure point — lockers for the bags, eat, walk back, board.
Two places that should not be your last stop
Toucheng and the coast. Most places close by eight or nine, Wai’ao’s bars often shut early in rain, and streetlights are widely spaced after dark. The sea is a daytime item.
Yuanshan and Sanxing. Asleep at nightfall, eateries dark after eight, and nowhere sensible to wait for a ride.
Close the day where the lights are. The supper timetable has the hour-by-hour breakdown.
One thing you cannot skip
A last meal in Yilan usually comes with a drink. But Freeway 5 has long tunnel sections, and alcohol plus fatigue compounds badly in that kind of driving.
If you drank, there are two correct options: arrange a designated driver, or stay another night and leave in the morning. Cars come easily in Luodong, Yilan City and Jiaoxi; book ahead on the coast and in rural areas. If it is raining and you are tired anyway, just stay — the rainy-night indoor plan fills an evening.